They’re all “the same” (and totally different). My house has had 5 apple phones, 3 lg and 2 samsung phones, 2 apple tablets, 1 samsung tablets, a few nokia phones and many others (motorola, palm, etc going back 18 years). We always get “last year’s model” cheap and I’ve been programming “next year’s model” for my job (so I have access to everything).
My personal phone is usually the best model from 2 years ago. I currently have a 3 year old lumia (windows device) as a phone since i love the small size. and an Lg g2 as a camera (since it takes the best pictures for me). My lg is freedompop (free text/voice. $0/month for what I need). A google voice # forwards to both phones so I can take either the small or camera phone with me anywhere. My phones were $60, and $99. I own them unlocked and have no contacts for $35/month for both. One at&t the other sprint so when I I travel I can use either network
So, what’s important to you? Calls? Internet? Camera? Storage? Cost? Size? I’d get a 1-2 year old model that does whatever you want best (or 2 different phones if you have 2 important features). And a no-contact provider that resells at&t/sprint/t-mobile/etc if cost matters.
Are there any catches with freedompop?